Just one of our Lads that did his bit.

They are pictured above, right. In the back row, left to right are A. Barker, A. Williams, E. Courtney, W. Little. In front, left to right, are G. Dean, D. McKechnie, A. Craven

Craven, A.Alfred Craven, 1896929, a Flight Sergeant in the RAF, was 5' 7" tall, with blue eyes and light brown hair. Hewas born in Wainfleet, Lincolnshire on 19 September 1911 to Ellen Craven, the daughter of William and Elizabeth. He went to Wainfleet Wesleyan School, and between 1924 to 1925 he was a member of the football team at the school. On 26th September 1927 he joined the 2nd Battalion of the Lincolnshire Regiment. There he played the flute and the euphonium as a musician in the army bandIn March 1928 Alfred went to India with his regiment, and in December 1928 to Sudan. They then returned to England, where the regiment was eventually stationed at the Old Park Barracks in Dover. Alfred often played with the band on the bandstand at Dover seafront. There he met Elsie Sharpe, who was to become his wife. Soldiers then were not allowed to marry until they were 34 years old, and had to buy themselves out of the service for £30 in order to get married. This Alfred did, and he joined the Dover Fire Service in 1934 The couple married in October 1936, and lived at Malmains Road, Dover. Their daughter Patricia was born there in July 1937, and the next year the new family bought a home at Farthingloe Road. The year after war broke out and Alfred continued his work in the Fire Service, with alternating duties in London and Dover. But although this occupation was exempt from military service and Alfred was doing a dangerous and much-needed job, the taunts of neighbours led to Alfred's joining up. In 1943 he became an airgunner in the RAFIn July 1944, after training, Alfred was in 619 Squadron, on loan to 44 Southern Rhodesian Squadron in Lincolnshire. On the night of 26th July, Alfred and his crew took off from Dunholme Lodge, Lincolnshire, at 21.19 in Avro Lancaster PB346 PG-J. It was their first mission, a raid on the Railway Yard at Givours, central France, with 178 Lancasters and 9 Mosquitos taking partTwo Mosquitos and four Lancasters were lost. Alfred Craven's was one of them. When they were returning from Givours in the early hours of 27th July they were shot down and crashed on fire near La Boissiere sur Evre, France. They were so badly burnt that all seven of them were buried there in just three coffins in a collective grave. Many local people attended their funeral service, bearing flowers The crew that were lost were:Flying Officer Donald Neil McKechnie Captain (pilot) aged 24 Sergeant Anthony Barker Flight engineer aged 28 Sergeant Wilfred Robert Little (RCAF) Navigator age unknown Sergeant Robert Geoffrey Dean Bomb aimer aged 22 Sergeant Richard Arthur Williams Wireless operator age unknown Sergeant Ernest John Courtenay Air gunner aged 19 Sergeant Alfred Craven Air gunner aged 33

A ten foot high marble monument stands in the field where the Lancaster crashed. The crew rest at La Boissiere sur Evre, near Angers, France. There are headstones by the graves. Alfred's reads,"Deep in our hearts a memory is kept. We loved him too dearly to ever forget"

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